Rebuke Christian Nationalism

Tomorrow is election day in the United States. It will be two more years before we get another chance to rebuke the Christian Nationalists who are intent on turning our country into a toxic theocracy not that different from countries running under the Sharia law that they all claim to hate. I contend that it is far better to stop them now so we can limit the damage as much as we can. A lot of that damage has already been done, and more is on the way if they win again.

You can argue all you want that both major political parties are the same. I'm a progressive myself and am often frustrated by the centrist, corporatist leanings of a lot of Democrats. Progressive policies are popular, but wealthy donors on both sides of the aisle work to keep them from even being implemented. That sameness prevents a lot of political discussions that we should be having about many important issues. This election, though, one big difference is clear. The Republican Party supports Christian Nationalism and the Democratic Party does not.

Christian Nationalism is not just another political ideology. It is the very dangerous idea that all non-Christians - and Christians who don't worship the "right way" - should be relegated to second-class citizens. It contends that civil law should be based on the Bible, and not just the Bible as written, pushes its own cherry-picked interpretations of Biblical law as defined by specific churches. They violently oppose homosexuality and abortion, which Jesus said nothing about, and have no problem mistreating the poor, which Jesus said a lot about.

Surveys show that only about ten percent of the population is committed to Christian Nationalist ideology, but about another twenty percent is "sympathetic" to it. I know that nothing I write is ever going to reach the True Believers, but if you are at all sympathetic to the movement you should realize that they aren't going to stop with non-Christians. If you're the wrong kind of Christian, they'll outlaw you too once they're done with everybody else.

Consider this: just about every Western European country has a state religion, either Catholic or Protestant Christianity. How's that working out for the Europeans? American Christian churches are better-attended and their share of the population is much larger. When the government and the church are combined, it's not all good for religious folks. It turns the church into just another government department, like the post office. Once that happens, people go to the church to get required official functions done and maybe show up for holidays. That's about it.

Separation of church and state - the thing Christian Nationalists want to do away with - protects churches too. Remember all the complaining about how same-sex marriage being legal would mean that churches would have to perform them? That won't happened because of the separation of church and state. The Roman Catholic church set the precedent for that long ago. It won't conduct marriages for previously divorced couples, and has ever rite to refuse even though those couples have a legal right to marry.

On the surface, you could argue that legislating morality to a degree might be a good thing. The problem is that Christian Nationalists are literally eliminationists. They consider themselves "oppressed" by the mere existence of anyone who disagrees with them. That's non-Christians along with all the Christians who don't agree with them one hundred percent. If you're Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, or any other mainstream denomination you're still an oppressor and you will still need to go at some point.

And let's look at Christian Nationalist economic claims. They put forth the idea that if America is "moral" God will bless us with a good economy. How is that working out? The Supreme Court threw out the right to abortion - which they assured us would make America more godly. But the economy has been going downhill since before that decision and it didn't even cause a positive blip. It's clearly a bunch of superstition drawn from Prosperity Gospel, a form of Christianity that the early Christians would not even have recognized.

Liberal versus Conservative is a political argument. Good versus Evil is not, and literal demonization of people who just want to be free from laws based on religious nonsense is a recipe for disaster. It should be clear by now that these zealots can't be negotiated with and will continue implementing their delusional plans so long as they have the power to do so. So let's take that power away from them so our country can start the healing process.

Let me throw this out there - lots of people don't vote. Some of them think it doesn't matter, others think that the two major parties are the same, and others just find it too much of a bother. If you're one of those people I'm asking that you go out and do it just this once and vote for Democratic candidates even if you hate them just as much as the Republicans. Our nation is facing an existential threat from Christian Nationalist lunatics and they've completely taken over the Republican party at this point. A big defeat is the only thing that is going to break their hold.

Once the election returns come in, I'm hoping that we can honestly say we rebuked the Christian Nationalists. We can make that happen if we all collectively stand against them.